Rare Perot Stamps To Be Displayed

The Bermuda News website is reporting, "Bermuda’s Post Office will be celebrating its 200th anniversary next month with an exhibition that will include eight of the 11 known Perot stamps."

According to the article, "Bermuda’s first postage stamps were produced locally in 1848 by Hamilton postmaster William B. Perot at his Queen Street post office, consisting of the words 'HAMILTON BERMUDA' in a circle, with the year and Perot’s signature in the middle. Known as the Perot provisionals, they are among the greatest rarities of global philately. Only 11 examples of the stamps — issued until 1861 — are known to still exist."

The Perot provisionals have appeared on several Bermuda stamps as shown above. Note the flowers along the side.

Apparently Perot’s postal duties though were just a sideline. Gardening was his primary passion according to a write-up on the Bermuda Biographies website. His five-acre garden at Par-la-Ville on Queen Street, Hamilton, where he lived for most of his life, was a horticultural showpiece.

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